


A Helping Hand

by genericfanatic



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Burns, Gen, Severe Injury, loss of hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:25:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genericfanatic/pseuds/genericfanatic
Summary: Deciding she doesn't want to face the issues of slowly letting her hand fall off, Rayla takes matters into her own hands, well, hand, when she gets the Sunforged blade.





	A Helping Hand

**Author's Note:**

> I LOVED the Dragon Prince, but thought they were so perfectly set up for this and then just didn't go there. The parallels, the blade, everything. And...the dragon biting if off kinda felt like a cop-out to me. But again, I loved the rest of the show.

“Did you find the knife guy? Did you get his knife?” Ezran asked as he and Callum ran towards the shivering pile under the cloak.

Except Rayla wasn’t shivering. She was shaking. There was a very subtle difference as she clutched her arm to herself, silently screaming in pain, but she wasn’t cold, not as her blood flowed through her, her heart beating fast with adrenaline and fear. 

Rayla sniffed as they got close. “Rayla?” Callum asked, soft and kind. 

She swallowed, “The bad news is that the sunforge blade didn’t work,” she said, voice shaking with her. “The--the good news is I did manage to get the binding off.”

“Really?” Ezran asked, excited, “How?!”

Rayla flinched, and pulled back the cloak. Callum and Ezra gasped at the sight, and she pulled it back close to her chest, regretting showing them at all. It was too late now. They saw the stump where her hand had been. 

Callum sat next to her on the fountain, Ezran on her other side, stabilizing her. “What happened?”

************

“No! Nothing can cut this stupid binding! Ugh!” Rayla said, about ready to throw the dagger in anger. Her hand burned, she had sliced just a bit of her skin in the process. At least the damn thing cut something. 

She watched her own skin sizzle for a moment. It didn’t bleed, but looked red and angry. Felt angry too. An idea floated into her head.

If she waited, the loss of her hand would be slow, agonizing even. She could lose more than just her hand, her whole arm could be forfeit. And the blood loss….and infection….she could die from it. Which of course, was the point, it wasn’t a true bind if it didn’t cost something. 

She took a deep breath. “You,” She said to the dagger holder, “Gimme that sheath.” 

“Sure, uh--” he stammered, fussing with taking the sheath off his belt. “Sure, take it! Take anything you want! Just don’t hurt me!”

Rayla rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, “I’m...going to hurt me.” She lay her arm out on the stone and took a breath. She could do this. She could do this she could do this. 

She put the sheath in her mouth and bit down as hard as she could. No way she could stop herself from screaming.

With a final gulp she raised the dagger and sliced.

********

“Rayla...I’m sorry,” Callum says, “Here, let me see.” Rayla clutched her stump closer to her chest. “The burn probably still needs to be treated. At least with some water or something.” Reluctantly, she held it out. He winced, but got up to fetch some water from the well. She yelped putting her arm in the bucket, but after a moment, it felt good. 

“Tell me something good happened with the egg,” she said, fighting off tears. 

“Yes and no,” Callum said, tearing off a ribbon of her cloak, “Well, no. Not yet. So, yes? In a way?” He started wrapping up her hand. 

“Sounds like we’re averaging out to a maybe-minus,” she said, still wincing in pain. 

“Yeah that sounds about right,” Callum slumped, finishing up the bandage. 

“We learned about a miracle healer,” Ezran perked, “Someone who might be able to help the egg!” he jumped up beaming, “And maybe your hand, too!”

Rayla looked doubtfully at her hand. “Really?”

Callum shrugged, “She apparently re-grew a dog’s leg. A hand can’t be too much more complicated right?” He sighed, “The only catch is, the healer lives up there...the Cursed Caldera.”

Rayla gulped. “Please tell me it’s named that because it was discovered by the great explorer, Sir Phineas Cursed.”

“Actually, it’s called that because it’s infested with horrible monsters,” Callum said.

“Yeah...I know,” she sulked.

“There she is!” They were distracted by a voice behind them, “She’s an elf! She did dark blood magic right in front of me!” 

Rayla flinched in pain again. “Oh, right. I forgot about the other bad news.”

They ran.

************

Rayla paced back and forth, uneasy. She had only barely been able to climb up the tree one-handed. It was hard to imagine that just a short while ago, she’d scaled up a cliffside and a castle. She was built for climbing, made for it. But now, her arm hurt so much she could barely think. 

Ezran was sitting on the other end of the tree branch, Bait beside him, cradling the egg to his chest. “It seems to be hanging in there,” she said, positively, “Barely,” she added, more cynical. 

Ezran hugged it tighter, “I’m so sorry I messed up the plan,” he said, bowing his head. 

Rayla collapsed to sitting, feeling some of the despair and pain wash over her, “Ah, you should cut yourself a break,” she said, voice flat and miserable even when she was trying to be comforting, “Everyone messes up sometimes. Or in my case, all the times.”

“What are you talking about?” Ezran said, swiveling to her confused.

She scoffed. “Trust me, if the plan hadn’t gotten messed up when Bait flashed, I’m sure it would have flopped when it was my turn.”

“Are you kidding?” Ezran said, “From what I can tell, you’re awesome at everything.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at the compliment. “I WAS pretty awesome at everything,” she said, waving her stump as a reminder, “Right up until the moment when it really matters. And that’s when I just, poof. Screw things up.”

“What do you mean?” 

She scoffed, “Look at me, Ezran. I lost my darn hand! I’m a one-handed assassin.” she sighs. “I hesitate. I think too much, get confused about the right thing to do. And the next thing I know, I failed,” She looks sadly at her hand. 

She told him the story of letting the guard go, remembering everything about that night, the cold rain, the dark shadows, and worst of all the pain in the guard’s eyes. “Do you realize I’m an assassin who’s never killed anyone?” 

“I think that’s a good thing,” he said, putting the egg away. He seemed distracted from his own mistake, at least. “Thanks for failing at your mission, by the way. I like being alive.” 

“I’m glad you’re alive, Ezran,” she said, meaning it. She couldn’t imagine having extinguished the bright light that was the young prince. “Knowing you is definitely worth losing a hand for.”

“That is the weirdest nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” he responded. 

She chuckled again. “I just...I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now,” she said, “I want to get you and Callum and the egg to safety.”

“And don’t forget Bait!” Ezran pushed the glow-toad into her face. 

She grimaced. “How could I?” she said flatly, then sighed. “But….we’re going to face more monsters on this journey, probably. More people who want to stop us for whatever reason. No offense, but you’re a kid. Callum is a twig who knows one and a half spells, and Bait is….Bait. I can’t even hold the egg anymore, let alone protect it. What...what am I going to do?”

Ezran scooted closer to her. “Well,” He said, “You can still do some things without your hand.”

“Oh?” she asked, and he lifted his arms, encasing her but not pushing on her. She sighed, and wrapped her arm around him, encapsulating him in a hug. 

*********

“She’s a moon mage,” Rayla said, looking at the elf, her heart in her stomach, “An illusionist.”

Lujanne, the illusionist, went on to explain what she did, and what she had done for Ava. “She didn’t need that leg to be happy, no more than you need your hand.”

“But I do need my hand!” Rayla said, upset and raising her stump, “I’m a warrior! What am I going to do with just one hand?!”

“You’ve done pretty well so far,” the girl Ellis said, leaning against Ava, “Like Ava! You destroyed that leech one handed, saved everyone. You climbed the tree one-handed, defended us against the illusions…”

“That’s because that’s what they WERE,” Rayla argued, “In a real battle...I don’t know what I’ll do!” She held her head in her one remaining hand, clutching her stump to her chest. It still hurt. 

“The monsters may have been fake, but your fight against them was real,” Lujanne argued, “It takes great courage and spirit to make it up this mountain and past my monsters. A courage I saw in Ellis and Ava,” she smiled at the wolf and the girl, “and a courage I see in you.”

Rayla shook her head, “I don’t know what you see,” she said, “but it’s not courage.”

“What are you talking about?” Callum said, “We never would have MADE it this far without you. You’ve saved all of us at one time or another, even Bait, and that was when you were terrified of the water.” Bait croaked in agreement. 

“Yeah, you did everything with just your slish hand!” Ellis added, “Just like Ava did everything with just three legs.”

Lujanne chuckled, “There may be some things you can’t do anymore,” she said, “But if you’re worried about being there for your friends, I’d say you have everything you need.” She motioned to the others, all looking at Rayla with smiling faces. 

Ezran’s face fell as he turned to Lujanne, “But...we have another problem. And this one’s REAL,” he said, taking the egg out of his bag. 

Lujanne and the rest of them lamented as they realized there was nothing she could do. Rayla closed her eyes. All of this, all of this was for nothing. Saving the egg, all that she had done. It was for nothing. 

And then Callum was gasping. He said, “I know what I have to do,” and took out his Stone.

Rayla only figured out what he was talking about a second before he smashed the orb onto the stone ground. The glass shattered and they were all blown back by the explosion of wind. In slow motion Rayla watched as the egg rolled along the rock face, directly toward the edge of the cliff. 

For once, Rayla didn’t overthink, She hardly thought at all. Hand or not, that egg meant peace for the world, and more than that it was a child, a hurt child. No way was she letting a measly hand stop her.

She clutched the egg to her chest with both arms, hugging it to herself until the wind became too strong. She took out her sword, using her one good hand to stab into the rock face, keeping herself steady. The egg pressed on her stump, sending shocks of pain up her arm, but she didn’t dare let go, holding it in the crook of her elbow. 

Finally the wind died away, and she looked around. They were in the eye of the storm, the center of calm surrounded by chaos. 

She put the egg down and watched. The storm spiralled away, the energy released and dissipating into the sky.

The egg sat still and cold. Once again, Rayla felt a wave of failure flow through her. They had tried everything, absolutely everything, and still they failed.

Then, it cracked.

Rayla nearly squealed looking at the adorable baby dragon, as it cautiously stepped out, blinking up at Bait and Ezran. Ezran talked to it, like he might talk to a person, but Rayla hardly heard what he said, too distracted by ‘BABY DRAGON!!’

Ezran turned the dragon, Zym, saying “That’s Rayla. You almost blew off the mountain, but Rayla saved you!” 

Rayla kneeled down as the baby dragon hopped toward her, sniffing at the bandage around her hand. He licked at it, causing it to sting. “Aww! It’s okay, little one,” she said, “The important thing is you. One miracle is enough for me today.”

Zym bit at the bandage, pulling at it. “Hey, stop that,” she said, trying to gently pull him away. He was insistent, stronger than she was expecting, and the bandage came loose. He licked eagerly at the exposed stump, and she flinched.

“Hey! Zym, don’t hurt her!” Ezran said, but Rayla held up her hand. 

“It’s alright,” she said, letting the dragon lick her, “I...I feel something. I…” The bandage fell away and she looked at the arm. “The pain! It’s...it’s gone!” she said, looking at her hand, “It feels perfectly fine now!”

The others all beamed, and Zym yipped, proud of himself. She pet him with the stump. “Thank you,” she said.


End file.
